Arsenal F.C. supporters

London based Arsenal Football Club has developed a strong following since its founding in 1886. Arsenal's fans are often referred to as Gooners, the name derived from the team's nickname, the "Gunners".

Many fanzines, blogs, podcasts and fans websites have been dedicated to the club and the fans have long-standing rivalries with several other clubs; the most notable of these is with neighbours Tottenham Hotspur, with whom they regularly contest the North London derby.

The club and the fans have regularly featured in portrayals of football in British culture. Gunners come from far and wide, a 2005 report estimated Arsenal's global fanbase at 27 million, the third-largest in the world. A September 2011 report estimated Arsenal's fanbase at 100 million worldwide; still making them the third-largest team in terms of supporters.

However the club is also noted for the long-standing vitriolic criticism of the team by some of its own supporters, a group who since around 2010 have been named The Anti-Arsenal Arsenal. Although the contemporary version of this group focuses its antipathy on the manager Arsène Wenger, earlier reports note antagonism towards the title winning team of 1953, and even Arsenal team of the 1930s, with Herbert Chapman complaining of the activities of the "boo-boys". More recent research has traced the tendency of some Arsenal fans to criticise the team back to the 19th century.

The Gooner

The Gooner is an Arsenal fanzine, created by the Arsenal F.C. supporters. A new issue is released approximately every month. The fanzine celebrated its 200th edition in November 2009.

The Gooner was first distributed in October of 1987 and was a black and white publication much like a small pamphlet and cost 25 pence. The 1990/91 season was the first to regularly sport full colour covers. The current version of The Gooner resembles a more professional glossy publication but still retains its sense of being an unofficial product produced by fans.

The Gooner is sold at various points on the approach to Arsenal's Emirates Stadium on most home match days, and outside the ground at away fixtures. Some pubs in the local area around Highbury allow The Gooner to be sold on their premises. The Gooner is sold at a price of £2.50 per issue.

The front cover normally contains a witty headline and an Arsenal related picture. The back cover is often a mimicry of a popular film, TV programme or advertising campaign. The back cover often mocks Arsenal's rivals or unpopular (ex) players. The fanzine has a number of regular features such as "Talking Reds" (the Editor's piece), "The Highbury Spy", "Mickey Cannon" and "Dwight Hart-Lane". The contents range from serious articles submitted by fans aiming a critique at the club, manager or certain players, to light-hearted cartoon sketches. Every issue has a letter page with responses from an Editor.

Arsenal

An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (US spelling) are mostly regarded as synonyms, although subtle differences in usage exist.

Sub-armory is a place of temporary storage or carrying of weapons and ammunition, like any temporary Post or patrol vehicle which is only operational in certain times of the day.

Etymology

From Italian: arsenale, and French: arsenal, from Arabic: دار الصناعة‎, dār aṣ-ṣināʕa, meaning "manufacturing shop".

Types

A lower-class arsenal, which can furnish the materiel and equipment of a small army, may contain a laboratory, gun and carriage factories, small-arms ammunition, small-arms, harness, saddlery tent and powder factories; in addition, it must possess great store-houses. In a second-class arsenal, the factories would be replaced by workshops. The situation of an arsenal should be governed by strategic considerations. If of the first class, it should be situated at the base of operations and supply, secure from attack, not too near a frontier, and placed so as to draw in readily the resources of the country. The importance of a large arsenal is such that its defences would be on the scale of those of a large fortress.